In today’s issue of The Province, Keith Morgan has a nice two page article on the 2006 Energuide Award Winners. NRCAN publishes a guide each year to help consumers in choosing a fuel efficient vehicle.

You can view the pdf of the winners here. There is also the interactive website here, where you can search specific models and classes.

I applaud the work that NRCAN does. The guide is a great tool.

I do have one complaint about this years guide however.

They chose to list TWO subcompact winners and TWO station wagon winners. They have never done this in the past.

In the case of the so-called subcompact category, the Toyota Yaris gets an award, despite being second place. The New Beetle TDI actually has the top spot. (BTW - Is it ironic that the Yaris’ mileage went DOWN compared to the Echo hatch which it replaced?)

And in the station wagon category, the Toyota Matrix- Pontiac Vibe twins get awards, even though the Jetta TDI wagon has the top spot.

I mean, that would all be okay, differentiating between gasoline and diesel, except why not add the smart then in the two-seater category? It sold nearly 4000 cars in 2005 model year, compared to FIVE Honda Insight hybrids.

A letter will be sent to NRCAN asking them to explain their reasoning behind this apparent omission.

In reality, the whole class awards system is getting outdated. I mean, how is the New Beetle a subcompact anyway? And station wagon is a bit iffy too… what makes the Vibe a station wagon, while the Golf is a compact?